Busy Book using Finger Puppets

Today we are sharing a fun IKEA hack with you, our jungle-themed busy book.  Inspired by the IKEA finger puppets, this little book is a crowd-pleaser among the little folks.

Since these little puppets tend to get lost, each is attached by an elastic cord and tucked into the corresponding page.  Let’s take a look, shall we?

We had some leopard and jungle tapestry upholstery fabric that was the perfect weight for the cover.  The closure holds the book closed with velcro and a fabric-covered button.

Page 1 features three ABC lily pads, which are really felt pockets where the frog can hide.

Aha!  There he is.  We also scored some Little Golden Book printed fabric for classic end papers.

Page 2 has a bird peeking out of a nest on a leafy branch.  Most of the cut outs in this book were made with felt, and the nest is lined with a leftover piece of pillow fringe.We tried to leave the elastic long enough to make play easy for little hands.

Page 3 is a woodsy scene, complete with a zippered stream and trees.  It’s fun to find the different fabric prints to go with each design.

The moose pops out of the stream and a wooden fish is hidden beneath a tree trunk.

A palm tree is sewn in place on the left side and closed on the right side with two buttons.

And a silly monkey is waiting inside the palm tree.

The lion and elephant get to ride in a vintage blue Land Cruiser.

They can pop in and out of the windows.  A later version of this book had the wheels button on and off of button hubcaps, and the window openings were stay-stitched to control stretching.  (Sorry, oldest grandkids!)

Sunshine and clouds float on a background that reminds us of bunches of balloons.

The toucan comes out of the cloud and flies into the sun.  There is a ring on the end of the elastic that can be pulled out of the cloud.

Big, blocky gray and brown rocks with decorative grass have an eyelet on either side of the curved opening.  This is the traditional busy book idea where kids learn to tie a bow and thus their own shoes.

One bear comes out of the top rock where the tie is, and the other bear is in the pocket of the bottom rock.

Tall trees finish the school theme with 1-2-3 and a pocket in the large center tree.

And the giraffe lives there where he can eat leaves all over the page.

The end!  And they all lived happily ever after since they all had busy books to keep them quiet and occupied.

Looking for more busy book ideas?  You can find the free tutorial for our Let’s Go Camping book pages over on Riley Blake’s Cutting Corners blog, along with a whole bunch of other book page tutorials.  What do you think?  Let us know in the comments!

-Diane & Audrey